Does Little Women 2019 Have An End-Credits Scene?

Greta Gerwig’s Little Women movie is a unique creation, but does it stand apart from previous versions by having a post-credits scene? While preserving the spirit of its source material, Gerwig’s script differentiates itself heavily from the numerous adaptations that have come before. Among the myriad of these unique qualities includes the critical choice to frame the story in a non-linear fashion as well as a greater amount of time spent fleshing out supporting players in the story, like Beth (Eliza Scanlen) and Mr. Laurence (Chris Cooper). The majority of these unique traits aim to make the film feel very much like a version of Little Women for 2019, an achievement it manages to accomplish without disrupting the crucial mid-19th-century setting of the original novel.

Instead of appealing to 2019 moviegoers by sneaking in distracting modern-era pop culture references or slang, the aforementioned storytelling touches can help it speak specifically to this current generation, while the timelessly appealing nature inherently woven into the story of Little Women can enchant everyone else. Given how Little Women is trying to be a version of this story for the modern era of moviegoers, it might cross viewers’ minds to ask if the director of Lady Bird has snuck in something 2019 cinema fans are quite accustomed to. Specifically, they might be wondering if Little Women has a post-credits scene.

The 2019 Little Women movie does not have a post-credits scene or anything in particular after the credits. Though it sounds out of the ordinary for a drama like Little Women to have a post-credits scene, it’s not unprecedented for non-tentpole feature films. Though widely popularized in the modern-day cinema world by the Marvel movies, a number of non-blockbuster films have managed to incorporate a scene after the credits worth sticking around for. For instance, 2010’s Best Picture nominee Winter’s Bone featured a melancholy post-credits scene tying into the protagonist’s childhood, while Clint Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers also carried a crucial post-credits tag involving the real-life soldiers it chronicled.

More recently, 2017’s The Disaster Artist featured a deleted scene containing a Tommy Wiseau cameo after the credits were done rolling. While most blockbuster fare use sequels to set up villains for future sequels, non-blockbusters tend to use post-credit sequences for more standalone purposes. Specifically, they’re often used as epilogues, ones used frequently to reinforce the tone and/or certain themes of the entire production. While not an essential tool, post-credit scenes can be a handy device for, even non-superhero movies like Gerwig’s Little Women.

But audiences shouldn’t expect a post-credits scene in Little Women. And in the context of the 2019 film, the lack of a post-credits scene makes sense. Without getting into spoilers, Little Women has told its tale by the time the credits begin to roll; to add on an extra tag would upend the sense of poignant finality at the heart of its final scene. Post-credits scenes can be useful for non-tentpole cinema, but in the specific case of Gerwig’s Little Women, they were wise to eschew a post-credit sequence.